Army medical team help deliver babies in rain-hit U`khand

New Delhi: An Army medical team on Sunday helped deliver two babies - a boy and a girl - at a makeshift centre in Sabola area of rain-ravaged Uttarakhand.

After trekking nearly 15 kms, the team had yesterday reached Tijan village which has a population of nearly 400 people.

When the team led by Capt R Patil found that two pregnant women required urgent medical attention, they requisitioned a lady doctor.

Army doctor Capt Febba Susan was heli-dropped in a nearby area today from where she reached the village after a 10-km trek, DG Military Operations Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia told PTI.

She helped deliver the two babies - a boy and a girl - at the makeshift medical centre.

"The newborns and their mothers are in good health," he said. While Capt Susan has left the area, the medical team is still in the area helping locals.

In another feat, IAF helicopters wrenched up 25 people marooned in the higher reaches of the state in the last three days. They were wrenched up in choppers from an elevation of three km above mean sea level.

"Despite bad weather, it was a red letter day for the Air Force...," IAF`s chief of Air Operations Air Marshal SB Deo told reporters here.

The Air Force planes and helicopters airlifted and dispatched 1.5 lakh kg of load. It has been described as one of the biggest helilift operation of the Air Force.

Five choppers functioned out of Dharasu to evacuate 608 persons. Besides lighter Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, IAF has also deployed various versions of medium lift Mi-17 choppers and advanced light helicopter Dhruv.

A Mi-26 chopper has carried supplies and two fuel tankers to enable other helicopters refuel while carrying out rescue operations.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) recovered over Rs 83 lakh in cash apparently looted by plunderers in Kedarnath and handed it over to the civil authorities. A self-loading rifle, apparently belonging to a policeman, was also recovered.